Knight of the Third Wind
by Wolfezth
Summary: The adventures of one of the last remaining black dragons that escaped the madness that has plagued the race for centuries.
1. Chapter 1

In the moonlight bathed vegetation of Terokkar Forest, every plant shone with a silver sheen; to the trees to the grass to the smaller plants and shrubs. A man was pacing slowly in this almost ghostly beautiful scenery in the forestry between Allerian Stronghold and Tuurem. The area he stood in was a circular swath of just grass the size of an average living room - allowing him plenty of space to move around. The man was human - tall and dressed in a set of blackened leather armor with gloves and boots as well, and it shone with an eerie brilliance as well. He wore no helmet and had short black hair with steel gray eyes - wearing a blackened longbow and quiver with white feathered arrows on his back and twin sabres and a bastard sword on his waist. (The sabres on either side and the bastard sword in a scabbard strapped across his waist, thus the sword is behind him.)

He was pacing back and forth, to and fro, waiting. He looked backwards occasionally, hoping to see his friend before she surprised him yet again. With that goal in mind he was constantly scanning the trees around him, watching for movement from every direction and keeping his ears wide open while turning around and around quite often to get a scan of the full area around him.. As he was searching the trees, he felt an abrupt shove from behind as he rolled forward with decidedly inhuman speed and turned to see a High Elf with (not uncommonly) fair skin and light blonde hair that he knew reached her mid-back with her ears sticking straight up almost comically on a frame that was only about a half of a head or so shorter than the human's. She was dressed in blackened leather armor as well with a blue Alliance tabard across her chest, and carried only a shortsword and a golden longbow and quiver with white feathered arrows on her back as weapons. Her blue eyes shone as she said in a confident, crisp voice:

"Had you in kill-zone range and had a perfect shot at you for the past five minutes or so. You really need to pay attention there - Wolf. You'd've gotten your head rocked if I was out to kill you... Seriously, aren't you dragon types supposed to have enhanced senses or something?"

Wolf knew this was a jab at the fact that she knew he couldn't detect her no matter how hard he tried for how well she was at stalking prey and hunting them down, but he managed a grin and replied:

"Well, Theloria Shadecloak... 'Scuse me for not being able to see, hear, or smell you. Hell - you always smell like the woods so I don't even bother to try smelling anymore, 'eh Shade?"

Shade grinned, and moved some hair out of her eyes with her left hand as she retorted:

"Well, Wolfezth - since we're going all formal and courtly here... I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want me telling you you normally smell like the bottom of a latrine quite a bit. And also, I have a question,"

She paused, and Wolf nodded slowly - eying her closely to see what it was.

"There have been reports of a Black Dragon flying around Scholomance breathing fire over it and tearing apart anyone who leaves the relative safety of the magically protected structure... Know anything about that, Wolf?"

Wolfezth sighed, and noted:

"Everyone cares what color a dragon is nowadays. I mean, I don't sit there and call you the White Shadecloak here do I? Exactly - and to answer your question I might've been there and I might've shorn some necromancers in two while I was there... Why?"

Shade shrugged and said:

"Just wondering on whether or not I should mark it as a problem or not... And seeing as you're not a menace to society..." She paused for a moment with Wolfezth giving her a look saying 'Oh really?' before continuing, "At least not as much of a menace to society as some other things. Plus - the death of a few necromancers really shouldn't be something anybody cares about... So other than harassing Scholomance how've things been for you?" She talked straight to Wolf, looking him dead in the eyes with each word she spoke; which was unusual to him even now - as most didn't do that in the presence of a 'monster'.

Wolfezth shrugged, and returned her gaze steadily before starting to speak in a similar clarity that Shade spoke in.

"Pretty good, all things considered. The Bronze are finally starting to forgive me for that outburst a few months back, and it's been hard but I've come to terms with it. You can't just go back in time and fix it every time you fuck up on something, as much as you'd like to... I fucked up bad right there, losing sight of the objective and not having the determination and bite needed to get to her in time and she paid for it with--" he said in a regretful, low, and sad tone, his eyes unfocused.

Shade interrupted him, and took a few short steps forward and grasped Wolf's shoulders and shook him forcefully - saying in an equally forceful voice with her face just inches from Wolf's due to their difference in height and staring directly into his steel gray eyes: "It... Was... Not... Your... Fault. You fucking hear me? You can sit there and whine, bitch, and wonder what if, and blame yourself for what happened. But Nazari's death was... not... your... fault. You hearing me? You blaming yourself, wondering what could've happened, all that beating yourself up doesn't change the truth - however ugly it is or how hard it is to swallow. You don't control another person's actions, it was a conscious decision. You fuckin' hear me? Instead of putting your anger on yourself, put it on the people actually helped cause it. Arthas, Kel'Thuzad, The Lich King, the Scourge, the negligent government, the Burning Legion, the whole lot. All you can control is what you do, and you have to do as much good for the world as both of you could together to make up for it. Understand?"

Wolfezth was shaken back to reality and his eyes became focused once more as he was being shook, and he met Shade's little speech with a hug. He rested his head on Shade's right shoulder, and while it took her by surprise she returned it readily.

"Thanks, Shade... For everything." Wolf muttered.

"There are worse things than grieving, as we've both seen. I'd rather see you crying like a big blubbering baby than becoming insane like the others." Shade said in a low voice.

"A big blubbering baby?" Wolfezth repeated in mild disbelief, then continued in a more serious tone: "And I can offer no promises, but I'll do my best not to become 'insane' as you call it."

Shade replied with in a low voice, just as serious: "I don't want a 'I'll do my best.' response, I want a 'I will not.' response. For me?"

"Fine, for you."

At this point Shade broke away slightly, forcing Wolf's chin off of her shoulder, took a step back, and looked straight into his eyes again and said: "What for me?"

Wolfezth rolled his eyes and repeated: "I promise I won't become mentally insane, corrupt, or otherwise under the influence of Neltharion for you."

Shade nodded, satisfied. "Good, that's all I wanted to hear."

Wolfezth opened his mouth to respond with something witty and original to try and get the hug going again, but he heard the distant sound of footsteps... And mail clinking.

"Are any patrols out at this hour, Shade?" Wolfezth asked, listening closely to the sounds of the footsteps and the clinking mail getting slowly closer - and it sounded like there was at least ten of them.

"No, otherwise I'd've told you to meet me at a different spot... Wait, what do you hear?" Shade replied, looking around and trying to pinpoint what Wolf was asking about, to no avail.

"Mail clinking and distant footsteps, I'd say to the south somewhere... East, southeast."

"Oh, shit." Shade cursed, drawing her longbow and notching an arrow to it. "Fel orcs decided to try and destroy Allerian Stronghold tonight - it seems. And if I can't hear it it must be some ways away and they're not screaming - which means a stealth attack... We have to warn them. Asleep they're easy targets and the Stronghold would fall due to them not being ready."

Wolfezth sighed, and said: "And we need to get there ASAP, right?"

Shade replied instantly, "Yes, what are you -- wait a sec.."

"Step back, Shade. If my judgments are right they're less than a few minutes away from the Stronghold - though they could be a lot closer than that. The only way for us to get there in time is for me to transform - so step back quite a bit."

Shade wordlessly stepped backwards into the forest as Wolfezth transformed - fingers turning into claws, his back sprouting ebony wings, his face elongating into a long maw, and his body bulking up quite a bit. His equipment melded seamlessly with him into his new form, a black dragon. In the process of transformation, he toppled quite a few trees nearby him but he paid it no heed - because that was normal. He was massive, but he had never bothered to try and figure exactly how big. He assumed he was the height of a house when standing on all four paws, the length of a great warship, and as thick as the thickest and oldest oak trees in existence. Shade looking on wouldn't argue any of those, except maybe that he might be a little bit bigger than that - but she had seen the transformation a number of times before so she didn't even bat an eyelid at it.

When it was done, Wolfezth grinned - an odd sight with his toothy maw and said in a deep, clear and considerably louder voice: "Let's get this show on the road!" as he laid flat on his belly so Shade could jump up.

At this, Theloria Shadecloak ran up to the ebony wyrm and jumped on his back expertly, finding refuge on his neck. Wolfezth was a wyrm oddly without horns of any sort so she just kind of laid down on his neck and tried to hold onto his scales as he started to lift off from the ground.

"Anything to hide the scale color from your allies?" Wolfezth asked as he boomed off of the ground with one quick boom of his wings and started gliding south toward Allerian Stronghold immediately.

Shade, deafened and disoriented for a moment because of the boom took a few seconds to respond, but eventually did with: "I'm not a mage, so I can't even change the color of something as big as you are."

"Well, you better come up with a damn good explanation as to why there's a huge ass black dragon right nearby then, 'cause I don't feel like being shot by a million arrows tonight." Wolfezth replied, flapping his wings once just for show - he maintained his altitude with subtle spells so he basically just flapped because it was pretty much automatic similar to how humans swing their arms when they walk.

"Yeah Wolf, I'm working on it..." Shade muttered, her blonde hair whipping with the speed they were traveling.

Within a few seconds Wolfezth's raptor-like vision saw a group of ... Fel orcs, he knew because of their red skin coming out of the river in their march toward Allerian Stronghold. They were creeping stealthily, using the trees for cover if any guards were on top of the Stronghold they wouldn't see them. He looked at the battlements, and saw no one there except for a single dwarf.

"How undermanned would you say the Stronghold is?" Wolfezth asked Shade.

"Pretty damn undermanned, why?"

"There's only one guard."

"... Damn that Sunchaser. I told him he'd need to set up watches but nooo... The dumbass."

He saw the fel orcs advancing to the front of it slowly, as they were already hugging the sides of it.

"I think I know how to get that dwarf's attention..." Wolfezth said, and without waiting for a reply breathed a plume of fire into the air, and as he suspected the dwarf started to panic and ran down yelling something that he couldn't quite make out. He wasn't quite in fire range with the orcs but that should get both sides worried.

Seconds later, Wolf said: "I'll stall and you jump." as he was nearing the stronghold, and Shade nodded - then realizing that Wolf couldn't see it said: "Fine."

He made a low pass over the battlements, making an eruption of screams and yells to arms come from the Stronghold, but Shade dropped expertly off Wolf's back and onto the battlements as Wolf did a complete 360 turn with the help of a bit of magic and intoned in a booming voice: "You fel orcs really made a bad choice in target... Tell your demon lords I said hello for me." before dropping abruptly down toward where he judged the fel orcs to be.

As Wolf was doing that, Shade quickly ran down the battlement stairs and yelled: "Get ready, the orcs will be coming in shortly!" to the twenty odd inhabitants of the stronghold. Captain Auric Sunchaser was the first one she saw, dressed in green scale mail and with his blonde hair - longer than Shade's own flowing freely from his head as he yelled at the top of his lungs: "Kill the dragon!" The others of course followed him, and Shade realized that any effort she made to convince them that the dragon wasn't a threat would just waste precious time so she merely re-ran up the stairs to the rampart to pick off at the orcs with her bow and arrow.

As Wolfezth lighted down, arrows were swarming toward him - and he deflected them into the castle wall with full shield spells that he always maintained. He broke a few trees as he landed, but he paid no heed. He saw the fel orcs clearly turn toward him and start yelling in their Eredar language - and most ran toward the Stronghold and they left around five to combat Wolf, all being decided in the span of seconds - during which time Wolfezth charged at the orcs, and seeing the five fel orcs remaining dressed in full plate and raising their shields in defense to try and protect the ones running into the stronghold, Wolfezth ran until he was about five meters away from them, then boomed his wings and flew forward like an arrow, and the wind generated from the acceleration laid all five orcs flat on their backs as Wolfezth breathed his fell breath on the backs of the rest of the fel orc patrol as they turned the gate and ran inside. It completely burnt to a crisp about four of them, and turned the other five unlucky enough to be caught in the fire's armor bright, bright red and they fell to the ground screaming in pain from the extreme burns. _That leaves sixteen unaccounted for fel orcs...Hopefully the elves can manage that. _He thought as he transformed back into a human, not wanting to be shot by the Alliance as well and knowing no one but Shade could be up on the battlements that soon, he felt no danger except form the orcs that were getting up behind him... But they would have to run a bit to get to him - which gave him the time he needed.

Shade climbed up the aforementioned battlement stairs swiftly and ran full throttle toward the end of the battlement she was on until she was directly over the door, and then she drew her longbow and notched an arrow to it - looking down to see if and when the battle would rage into her firing range - because now she could hear yells and war cries... But it was all under the gate for now so she looked over to see Wolfezth transforming back to a human. _Good, that idiot Sunchaser'll think the dragon ran or something._Shade thought with a smirk.

Wolfezth, now seamlessly changed back into his human form, dressed in blackened leather and he drew his bastard sword from the scabbard behind him - grinning as the orcs got up; raising their battleaxes in fury at him. And then charging at him, Wolfezth merely sighed and sheathed his bastard sword with his left hand while making a motion with his right - and the ground under the charging fel orcs just completely gave way and they fell into a ditch that was created on a moment's notice, and was gone as soon as they fell in.

Shade watched this with mild awe as she saw this, and looked down once more to see that the battle still raged directly below her, and she whistled to get Wolf's attention so he'd look up, and then pointed down. Wolfezth understood and moved closer to the castle walls and ran toward the front of the gates as Shade worked up the courage to make the jump - and it only took a moment before Wolf was racing down the ground and Shade took a dive off the battlement.

Mere seconds later she was caught by Wolfezth, and immediately set down on the ground to recover for a moment from the somewhat dizzying fall as Wolf turned the corner and charged headlong into the fray.

From what he saw immediately, the wooden doors were splayed open at the very edge of their open phase and splintered from the either the force they were opened with or from weapon shots the doors had taken since the conflict began and there were a lot more spellcasters than warriors, it came to no surprise that he immediately saw a dwarf and a man dead on the ground alongside the bodies of four fel orcs. There were only two more remaining warriors trying to hold off the orcs from advancing, and it didn't work at all as five orcs broke loose before he had even came around the corner and the mages and an archer were fending them off. The remaining seven were surrounding and chipping away at the two remaining warriors, and Wolfezth quickly drew one of his sabres and lunged to the back of the nearest fel orc, as it took a moment for them to realize he was there... And a moment was all he needed as he slashed the back of the fel orc's neck wide open.

Of the other six, two lunged straight toward them with the other four still attacking the two warriors - and another human felled by an axe as he was distracted with Wolf's arrival for a moment - letting down his guard. The last was a High elf with green scale mail, fighting valiantly with his blade. Wolfezth of course had no time to think of such matters as he had two fel orcs charging at him with greataxes raised - for these berserkers had no shields to speak of. In the few short seconds Wolf got as they charged, he reversed the grip of the blade he was holding and drew his other sabre reversed as well - so both blades were pointed down as the orcs raised their axes to strike... And Wolf was ready with a plan concocted on the spot as they came into range and slashed with their blades savagely and with such force that if Wolf was caught under it... It would rip him in twain. That wasn't a concern as all Wolfezth did was take a leap backwards as the axes fell into the ground, and the second they did Wolfezth jumped directly forward and before the orcs could react used the backs of the axes as a stepping stone to leap as hard and fast as he could with both arms stretched fully out like wings, and as he passed the orcs he abruptly moved both arms with as much force as he could muster midair to meet with a fist pound in front of his chest. The result of that was two decapitated fel orcs midair, with the expression of disbelief on their faces even as they were lopped off.

Just prior to Wolf's acrobatic maneuver, Shade joined the fray with longbow in hand and saw Auric Sunchasher surrounded by four fel orcs. As much as she disliked and disagreed with Auric, she didn't want to see him die - so she notched an arrow to her longbow and fired at an orc behind him with his axe raised - hitting him in the temple and felling him. She quickly notched another arrow to her longbow and shot the other orc - now looking over to see where the archer was dead between the eyes... Felling him as well as she witnessed Wolf's dual decapitation. _He always has to show off, doesn't he?_ Shade thought offhandedly before notching a third arrow to her bow and saw the situation with the mages and Taela Everstride - the only other ranger there. There was three orcs running amok around them, with two human bodies, a high elf body and a night elf body nearby - all wrapped in the robes of a mage. Besides Taela and one other mage capable of fighting, the others were just traders and would be nearly defenseless. _Well, the chips are down... But here comes the cavalry._ She thought, taking aim with her longbow and seeing that two were mobbing Taela and the other one was chasing down the final mage - who appeared to be helpless at the onslaught. The traders were gathering arms and charging the orc too, so Shade wasn't too worried when it was outnumbered like that, so she focused on the two near Everstride - who was dressed in golden scale mail and resorting to the longsword - dropping her longbow nearby due to its uselessness point blank against greataxes. One she was giving cuts and gashes repeatedly even as Shade took careful aim as to not hit Taela by accident - but constantly having to parry the other's attacks slowed her down. To get a clear shot at the orc she was having trouble with, Shade scooted to the right because that orc was directly in front of her and if she hit an arrow through its head she wanted the arrow to not hit any allies on the way out. Once she was satisfied that when she shot it it would just fall harmlessly to the ground - she aimed for the temple of the orc's ugly head and fired. It missed its mark by inches, hitting it in the crown of the head and splintering the arrow - but the result was the same... The orc went down on the ground, and that's all that mattered.

As Wolfezth landed, he rolled forward a bit and when he got up, three of the four orcs attacking the wounded high elf were dead. But there was one more, and as Wolfezth got up from his roll he sheathed both blades while charging the orc, lowering his shoulder to give it something to think about as it was trying to parry the still formidable High elf's slashes, although slower with bleeding. The orc had to choose to dodge the blade slashes or the tackle, not both as he couldn't just step back to to being so close to the edge of the entryway. _Next time Shade goes out to meet me, she can't just assume someone else is going to be responsible enough to lock the door behind her. I mean c'mon, it was an easy entry for the orcs. _Wolf thought as he attempted to drive his shoulder so hard into the orc that he fell to the ground or was smashed against the wall... Not unlikely due to Wolf's decidedly inhuman strength... But it wasn't meant to be as the orc decided to push the High Elf aside and meet Wolf's charge headlong as he tried a quick sideways swing. Seeing this, Wolfezth immediately did a baseball slide to avoid getting his head lopped off, but the High Elf took advantage and used his opportunity to drive his longsword into the fel orc's armpit, and twisting the blade before pulling it out and slashing through its throat for the kill. The High Elf then dropped his sword and extended a hand to help Wolf get up - and he took it and when he got up surveyed the fight - as a group of what looked to be traders were celebrating over a dead and terribly cut up orc body and a High elf ranger in golden scale mail was pulling her longsword out of another fel orc's throat - sheathing it afterwords with a shiver. _And that accounts for all of them, so much for the great Legion power they're supposed to have._

Shade sighed in relief as the last of the fel orcs were dead, and walked over to where Wolf and Auric were standing to survey the aftermath of the battle in a few short steps and said in a sorrowful voice: "I'm sorry Auric, I was the one who left the doors unlocked when I left."

Auric, his green eyes shining in anger turned around to her and demanded: "I expected better of you, Theloria. A serious act of carelessness, from a senior ranger no less! Who did you go and meet, I'd like to have a word with him as well."

At this point Wolfezth turned around from watching the traders sorrowfully change their celebration to the gathering of the dead and raised his left hand - saying simply: "That'd be me, Elf."

Auric didn't even turn to him, and said directly to Shade, taking a step closer to her so the chewing out would really sink in: "You should be demoted and thrown off right now for what you did, running off for a frivolous pursuit that cost a few good men and women their lives today." he then took another step forward in anger so he was nose to nose with Shade, and this was where Wolf drew the line and grabbed the elf by the gap in the back of his armor near his neck and wrenched him backwards a few feet.

He immediately and predictably turned to Wolfezth and yelled: "Who the hell do you think you are, human?"

"I think I'm gonna make sure you don't sit there and do something stupid to Shade I might have to kill you for - hear me, Elf? And the blame doesn't rest solely on Shade's shoulders..." Wolf responded in a calm voice, but Auric interrupted.

"Yes it was!" He started, _Bad choice of words for the kid..._ Wolfezth thought as he immediately took a rapid step forward and almost in the same instant kneed the elf hard enough in the chest that it would dent his scale mail and knock the wind out of him for quite a few moments. He then grabbed his neck with his right hand and raising the elf about a foot from the ground before holding Auric inches from his own face and said in a much less nice, much more subtly angry and threatening voice:

"No, it wasn't you piece of trash. The ultimate cause of death for the ones here is your inept commands," Wolfezth paused, and used a higher pitched - more idiotic sounding voice for the next breath. "'Oh, let's only have one guard on the battlements all night, it'll all work out okay!' 'Let's not get reinforcements, let's just sit on our asses and do absolutely nothing to help ourselves!' 'Oh, it doesn't matter. I'm Oarface Sunshitter and I'm so big and goddamn bad nothing'll happen'." he used a growling, angry voice for the last little imitation. The ranger and a mage walked toward Wolf and before they could speak Shade said in a commanding voice: "Let Auric go, Wolf."

At this, Wolfezth immediately and without question released his vice grip on the Elf's neck, and as he fell a foot or two to the ground Auric rubbed his neck with his left hand and said in a totally serious and astonished tone: "This is NOT the time for blind and insane loyalty to your lover, human..."

Wolfezth lifted an elbow to break the elf's jaw at the ill timed comment, but Shade quickly stood beside him and put both of her hands on his elbow, and Wolf let it drop slowly down as the ranger Taela Everstride and a human in mages robes walked up to see the commotion while Auric continued:

"Theloria, or 'Shade' as you might call her will have to pay the consequences. You can't just go off and have a night of raucous fun while leaving the door unprotected, no matter how good it seemed at the time." he said, dead serious in thinking that Wolf and Shade were... Lovers? Wolfezth subtly raised his elbow again, but Shade pushed it down again, saying: "Wolf isn't my lover, Auric - no matter how your narrow mind perceives it."

"You're clutching his arm for comfort and support after he attempted to kill me after I scolded you! Stop acting like a child, Theloria, I'm not blind!" Auric continued, and to Wolf's astonishment neither the archer nor the mage interrupted him, but Shade shook a little, and as Auric opened his mouth to talk again Theloria Shadecloak took a quick step forward and to Wolfezth's complete surprise pivoted her hips into a snap punch that hit Auric right in the cheek with enough force to knock him down with one punch a look of utter shock on his face that an underling would do something like that to their superior.

"Nor am I blind, Auric. You don't have to banish me or whatever other bullshit you had planned... I'll just take my leave - Taela and Andarl... I'm truly sorry for your losses and hope you come to your senses and seek refuge in Shattrath City and away from this idiot... Wolf, we're going before this asshole gets up and calls the Draenei peacekeepers to the area." Shade said quickly, running outside to the gate as Wolfezth took a moment to spit in Auric's face and boot him in the chest - denting the armor further and grinned with satisfaction as he recoiled from pain before joining Shade directly outside of the gates.

The archer nodded at Shade and said: "We'll come back with force later, don't worry. And thanks - someone needed to shut him up." before turning back and helping the traders collect the bodies for a burial.

Andarl, the mage Wolfezth saw with a brief glance back was trying to slap Auric up as Wolfezth realized Shade had him sputtering for breath and unable to form a word let alone a sentence... And when he turned back Wolfezth saw Shade looking around for a moment before saying: "OK, it doesn't even matter at this point. I'ma hop on your back and you transform, hell with it." and Wolfezth could only do a swift nod before Shade quickly bounded towards him and jumped on his back, both hands clasped in front of his neck for support as Wolfezth transformed, and Shade widely unclasped her hands rather quickly as he did. Wolfezth toppled some of the stronghold's walls as he assumed full size, and Wolfezth took a second to growl in a low, taunting voice: "Still want to kill the dragon, Oarface SunShitter?" before booming into flight with a single clap of his wings and flying in the general direction of Shattrath.

"What now?" Shade asked Wolf, unconcerned about their exit.

"Looks to be back to the Caverns of Time so I can get my plate mail and the big swords when next we fight on the ground in areas like that." Wolfezth replied, before adding: "They might have a mission in store for us as well, which would be a nice change."

"Yes, it would. With actual dragons who know what they're doing in charge."

"Are you implying that _I_ don't know what I'm doing?"

"Just shut up and fly, Wolf." Shade responded with a laugh.

Mere seconds later Shattrath City came into view, the city's lights dimmed and the sharp outline of the city starkly defined in the moonlit sky. Shade let loose a yawn, and said: "Why don't we stop and spend the night in Shattrath City, Wolf? Wait - it'd probably be better to ask you something first... Have you done anything really, really stupid in Shattrath City yet, Wolf?"

Wolfezth let out a laugh, his deep, brazen voice loud and clear to Shade and most anyone in the area - but Wolf was far up into the sky, his massive frame hidden in the stars and sky. "I don't know where you get the idea that I ever do anything stupid, Shade... And also - yet... yet? If you mean showing my true form, the naaru and the Scryers both know - as the Scryers were near me as the naaru first addressed me... And the naaru aren't fooled by my guises, but they didn't seem to care much as long as I didn't do anything ... Violent without being provoked, as being aligned with the Scryers makes the Aldor immediately hate you to the point where their freaky blue heads start frothing over like a rabid dog's, and I don't wanna find out what happens if they find out what I am... Their giant blue heads'll probably explode in sheer... Hatred, anger, and whatever other funky stuff they got in there."

Shade sighed, "And you complain to others about being 'racist' to you for being a Black, and here you are making fun of the Draenei's heads... You seem to forget I'm not part of the Horde like you and actually work with Draenei more often than my own kind..."

Wolfezth interrupted, and said: "Of course I remember, which is why I was making the jokes... And your own kind - huh? The rabbit eared descendents of the Highborne, also known as the biggest idiots in history... The purple freaks."

Shade wished she could shove him, bump into him, elbow him or something... But she knew if she tried in his dragon form he either wouldn't feel it or she'd accidentally fall due to the speed they were going, in fact they were getting closer to Shattrath with each and every moment, and within the span of the next minute or two they would be able to land in the city... And Shade warned: "Wolf, you might want to disguise yourself pretty quick, before they can see you." as she knew the insults from earlier was just him trying to get a rise out of her.

Wolf replied instantly: "Don't worry, this is the Scryer Tier I'm flying to! And I swear to everything they find holy and sacred if they slick the landing again I'ma rip something apart."

Shade laughed, looking ahead to see the magic light coming off of the buildings in the raised portion of Shattrath City they were headed for - the Scryer's tier. The buildings were of differing size and proportions and of distinctly elven make, which made her wary because some Blood Elves did not receive high elves well due to the whole faction difference. _Somehow I don't have a too good feeling about this one... I hope Wolf knows what he's doing._

And sure enough, the buildings fleshed out more and more and Wolfezth angled slightly so that he flew into an open stretch of the Tier, landing carefully near the edge, taking care not to smash into any nearby buildings with his wingtips or his tail before landing just barely far enough to transform into human form and give Shade ample room to maneuver around so she wouldn't fall off, and he did just that; transforming quickly as Shade leaped off of his back just before it fell away to land beside him.

Wolfezth yawned, scratching his stomach with his right hand - now in the human form he wore before. Dressed in black leather, with sabres on either hip and a bastard sword strapped behind him with a longbow on his back plus the quiver - his steel gray eyes quickly locating the inn in the pale moonlight, and he pointed it out to Shade with his gloved index finger, who was standing beside him unsure of what to do.

Shade had blonde hair that reached her mid-back, and her slender frame deceived one into thinking that she was weak... But that was totally wrong - as her body was as finely tuned and battle ready as Wolf's own. She wore similar black leathers with a blue Alliance tabard with the symbol of the golden lion on it, with a shortsword on her hip and longbow and quiver filled with white featherd arrows on her back. Her fair skin was not uncommon as she was a High Elf, but the way her hair reflected the moonlight was breathtaking to Wolf he had to stare for a moment, and her blue eyes looked at him quizically as he recomposed himself. "The inn is where I pointed, just in front of us a bit... We can rest there for the night, but coming in this late there might only be one bed left." Wolf then said, and to his mild surprise Shade answered immediately: "Well, if there's only one bed you're sleeping on the floor." Then Wolfezth grinned as he started walking forward toward the inn, and Shade matching him pace for pace as the moonlight continued to pour down on the landscape and buildings like a blanket, coating everything in an eerie and beautiful light. Wolf took a quick look around and saw that the Tier had no guards other than the arcane automatons the Blood Elves used which were patrolling around - the hulking masses of steel and whatever else not even close to near Wolf and Shade as they were near the entrance - the elevator at the moment. _Creepy as hell, those machines. I'd hate to have one malfunction and have to break through that armor while trying not to get pounded by the lot of them. It's no small wonder the Aldor stay the hell away from this Tier... Because these automatons would rip their bloody heads off!_ He thought as both he and Shade walked into the inn side by side, as the doors were wide enough to permit such. Inside he saw Innkeeper Haelthol, dressed in the usual silk clothes and his long red hair slicked behind his head. _Why do all elves seem to have longer and longer hair? Hell, most of the men have longer hair than Shade - and that isn't something you see... EVER in other races!_ He thought offhandedly as he saw Haelthol raise his head from wiping down the bar in front of him and said with a sly grin: "Lucky the mages are asleep or the edge you use for landing'd be slick as the ice in Northrend, Wolf. How can I help you?"

Wolfezth grinned, and replied: "Lookin' for a place to sleep mate, how many beds you got open?" Haelthol looked between Shade, who was shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot despite Haelthol being the only one in the room at the moment, and Wolf and and rubbed his chin with his left hand, his right hand still wiping down the bar. "I believe there's one left on the floor right above this one, and whoever wants to take it can." He said after thinking for a moment or two, then dropped the rag he was using the wipe down the bar and reached down and found the key to the room dangling on a hook - the only remaining key left. He came up with it, and looked at Wolf and Shade questioningly with his bright green eyes. "Shade, you grab it; and don't worry - the Scryers are extremely hospitable." Wolf said, gesturing his hands toward Shade who walked up to the bar and took the key from Haelthol's outstretched hand with a murmur of "Thanks." and proceeded to walk up the stairs a few steps away from her.

"Need anything, Wolf?" Haelthol asked a few moments later, finishing up wiping the bar and setting the rag down on a small table behind him. Wolf replied with a quick grin and said: "A pillow would be nice, Haelthol." to that the innkeeper nodded and made a few gestures and muttered a few words... Sure enough a fluffy white pillow appeared in his hands and he threw it at Wolf, who caught it and set it on the bar before sitting down on one of the stools and setting his head down on it... And falling asleep almost immediately from the events of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

Wolfezth woke up a few hours later, and raised his head from the pillow on the bar slowly - permitting himself a yawn as he looked around to see what was going on around him... And there wasn't much to look at due to no one being in the room except Haelthol - who was sipping from a beer mug while reclining back in a chair behind Wolfezth. When he saw Haelthol was awake, Wolf asked: "Damn mate, don't you EVER sleep?"

Haelthol replied with a grin and he sipped his mug before replying: "Yeah, actually. You've been out for the better part of the night and I woke up just a bit ago myself. Also - send Sylvanus the Scryer's regards. And Shade, somehow that name sounds familiar to me - Wolf. You ever talk about her ...or do I know her?"

Wolfezth grinned at him, spinning his stool around so he could face him before continuing - meeting his green eyes directly with his steel gray. He felt completely comfortable telling Haelthol much of anything due to their shared tours of the orc wars together when he was seperated from the Farstriders and Haelthol was seperated from his unit... And he was one of the few individuals in all of history to ride into battle on Wolfezth's back. "Theloria Shadecloak was a Farstriders member in the unit I was in - which was directly under Sylvanus Windrunner's. I was of course in command of that unit in the battlefield, but Sylvanus was still giving us most of our orders indirectly - through a mental link. At the time of Arthas' invasion, Shade and I, accompanied by a good bit of our unit were in a mission for Nozdormu, the Aspect of Time fixing one of the first disturbances of time to date that would continually get more common. ... And of course when we came back we were... Aghast, would be a good word for it I suppose. Chain of command moved up and I had full control of the unit for Sylvanus' was destroyed in the assault for quite a bit - I'd say a good three weeks or so before I started to phase out of the Alliance on my own accord, never wanting to become Ranger-General in her place though I'm pretty sure I could've. Shade fought in all of the orc wars, the war against the Scourge, and a lot of the major conflicts recently with the Alliance.. I tend not to ask because... Y'know - I defected. And I'll make sure Sylvanus hears those regards, Innkeeper."

Haelthol rubbed his chin and set down his beer mug while Wolf was talking, deep in thought. A few moments after Wolf was done talking Healthol snapped his fingers and said: "Theloria Shadecloak, she was the one who damn near bested Sylvanus in that archery competition, correct?"

"That would be correct, Elf! And believe me when I say that I've had both as allies in combat, and aside from their accuracy they were very much different in fighting style. Sylvanus is more of a I'm-Gonna-Get-In-Your-Face-And-Stuff-It-With-Arrows type of gal, and Shade was more of a I'm-Gonna-Hit-You-And-Before-You-Know-What's-Happening-You're-Dead type of girl." Wolfezth replied easily.

"So Sylvanus was more like you, except instead of plate mail and swords she used arrows and leather, right?"

"That would be a good analogy, while Shade stays true to her name and is damn good at making herself hidden and staying that way throughout combat if need be."

Haelthol laughed at that, and said with a grin: "What, big bad Wolf can't see her sneaking around?"

Wolfezth nodded his head slowly and said: "I'm gonna be honest and say I can't - but if anyone asks I can. I have no earthly idea how she does it, but I simply can't when she hides." He paused for a moment and leaned back in the stool saying: "Yeah, yeah dragon vision, hearing, and all that and all I still can't."

Haelthol looked surprised by this, as it's extremely hard to past Wolf's superhuman senses, and even harder to get him to admit his shortcomings, no matter how small or insignificant. He opened his mouth, but closed it when he heard water running through the pipes suddenly - and looked at Wolf questioningly.

"Hey, I haven't moved since I woke up - you even watched me! It's probably an early riser taking a bath, mate." Wolf defended himself from Haelthol quite reasonably assumed Wolf did another one of his "pranks" on someone.

Haelthol grinned at Wolf's reaction, and then said: "Hey, I believe you unless there's some screams here soon... Then I'm gonna have to wonder a bit mate - especially if its the mages and your stupid rivalry with them."

"It's not stupid, it's getting even... Hell, they're probably still mad from the last time I took let loose a chocolate dragon in their buildings." Wolfezth said, grinning widely.

"They sure are, Wolf - don't worry! It took them a while to get all that out and find a spot to dump it." Haelthol sighed.

"Ha! Hope they had fun with that one, mate. And I've been meaning you ask you... Any word on Malicia yet?" Wolfezth asked in a low voice.

"Not yet, I haven't seen nor heard from her since she left..." Haelthol paused for a moment, looked down, and cleared his throat before continuing: "On that 'secret' mission sent by..." he paused again and cleared his throat and continued in a voice dripping with contempt and loathing: "Lady Katrana Prestor."

Neither Wolf nor Haelthol spoke for several seconds, both looking down at the ground before Wolfezth took a deep breath and looked up; and said irately: "I'll see what I can find out when I'm gone, Hael. Contact me if you ever find anything out about that, because this is beyond ridicules that there has been no word for this long."

"Aye... But it's not like I haven't been trying." Haelthol said glumly, still looking at the floor and grabbing his beer mug absently and draining the rest of it with one go.

"I know, Hael... I know. I'll see if I can't have Shade figure some stuff out for you as well, mate. No new information whatsoever?"

"None... I don't know a damn thing about the mission still and haven't seen her for what has it been now? Months, I'd say... Quite a few months... And the wedding was supposed to be later this week as well." Haelthol said, choking back tears.

At this, Wolfezth got out of the chair and kneeled in front of Haelthol's chair and patted him on the back. "That's quite a load to carry, Hael. And trust me, mate... Sometimes not knowing is infinitely better than knowing firsthand what happened to someone that close to you." he said sorrowfully, standing up. Haelthol stood up as well, and looked down for a moment while he recollected himself.

"I'm sorry Wolf, I know what you went through with Nazari..." Haelthol began, but Wolfezth interrupted him.

"Don't worry about it, Hael. What's done is done, and perhaps Malicia will have a happier ending." Wolf said calmly and somewhat distantly as he noticed that the water running through the pipes stopped running.

"We can always hope, can't we?" Haelthol said with a forced smile, and Wolfezth nodded absently.

At that, there was the sound of footsteps on the stairs as the first risers of the morning were going outside to do whatever it was that they had to do. Wolfezth and Haelthol sat back down in their seats and watched absently as the elves who spent the night at the inn filed out with a polite nod or greeting to Haelthol and Wolf, which they nodded politely to. This little circus of leaving the inn as Wolf thought of it lasted for about five minutes, as most elves had a job to do with the Scryers or wanted to attend to personal matters. Couples walked out hand in hand, warriors left with blades at their hips - ready to fight the forces of Kael'Thas Sunstrider, and commoners walked out to go do their jobs in the community. The ones who didn't have to do anything slept in, some of the lazier ones wouldn't be up for hours and some would be up within a half hour. Elves didn't have to sleep much, so much of them left before even Haelthol and Wolf woke up, and this 'wave' of people left only after enjoying the breakfast stands next to their beds when they awoke... Which Haelthol spent quite a bit of time setting down once Wolf went to sleep. Haelthol reclined in his seat as he watched the last of the working elves go outside, and then said: "On off days it's hell in here for a while, you came on a good day Wolf."

"Yeah, I tend to have good timing with things don't I?" Wolfezth said with a grin.

"Yep, always either a very good time or a very bad time with you isn't it?"

"Naw, only good timing with me, Haelthol." Wolf said matter-of-factly.

"Only good timing, huh?" Haelthol asked, as both men heard footsteps down the stairs.

"Damn right, Haelthol. I didn't get the nickname "Good Times" for nothing." Wolfezth said, wondering if that was Shade or another late riser, as the sun should already be rising.

"You just made that up, didn't you?"

"Maybe I did, but that doesn't change my point."

"What nicknames did you ACTUALLY get, I'm curious."

"Well, Blackfang for obvious reasons... Pretty much copied by Nefarion's Blackwing - which is really, really stupid. Of course our wings are black, but our fangs aren't... Kids these days."

"Back to the nicknames and titles, Wolf."

"Oh yeah, Blackfang... Legionslayer... The Twilight Terror... Pretty much every play of my coloring there is... Wolf; obviously." Haelthol nodded to this as Wolfezth looked up and tried to remember, his steel gray eyes unfocused as Shade walked down the stairs dressed in her black leather armor. Haelthol nodded to her as Wolfezth continued: "Trueshot, Thunderwing, The Midnight Reaper, Windbreaker, Aweitroj Suaco... Or Third Wind in Draconic..." as Wolf looked onto the ceiling, his eyes still unfocused trying to remember Shade walked with utter silence took a seat next to Wolf and looked at Haelthol questioningly. "Titles and nicknames, it might take a while." Haelthol whispered, and Shade nodded as Wolfezth continued even farther: "The Watcher... And Wolfy of course, by Nazari...Um... Damn, it's been a while... The Harbringer of Victory, The Shadow Knight, Striker, Arrowsponge - you should remember that as what Sylvanus always did and still calls me, and many, many more I can't remember here this second." He finished and looked back onto Haelthol, and noticed Shade beside him for the first time. He wasn't surprised in the least that he didn't notice her except the opening footsteps from the stairs because she liked to sneak up on him like that. " Aweitroj Suaco or Third Wind is probably my favorite though. Some get the Second Wind to continue the fight, but I'm the Third Wind that finishes it." Wolf added, grinning. Haelthol also noticed that Wolf straightened his back and puffed his chest out when he noticed Shade, but didn't comment on it; instead asking: "And who gave you that name, pray tell?"

"In my opinion one of the most under-recognized and underrated commanders in history - Jarod Shadowsong. He actually commented on it and it stuck I guess." Wolfezth replied easily, looking directly at the elf, taking a moment to examine his dark purple silk clothing before looking him directly in his green eyes once more.

"And I'm not even gonna ask about the Arrowsponge one." Haelthol said calmly, suppressing a grin.

"Thanks for that, Haelthol... And mornin' Shade." Wolf replied, turning his head towards Shade and leaning back against the bar itself. Shade rolled her eyes and replied: "Heya Wolf, having fun feeling smart this morning?"

"Why yes I am, thanks for askin' Shade. Havin' fun creeping around this mornin'?" Wolf said, keeping a straight face while Haelthol chuckled.

"Why yes I am, thanks for asking, Wolf." Shade replied, flashing a grin. Haelthol started laughing harder at that, and both Shade and Wolf looked at him with the same weird look at the exact same time and Shade leaned back against the bar nearly the exact same manner as Wolf. At this, Haelthol lost it and doubled over in laughter, his right hand gripping the table for support.

"I think this guy's a little off his rocker if you know what I mean." Shade said in a low voice as Haelthol continued to laugh hysterically.

"I know Shade, think we should get a hold of one of those asylums, y'know? I think he's finally lost it and gone completely batshit insane." Wolfezth said, still keeping a straight face and talking so seriously it might as well be the end of the world. Haelthol ran out of breath and was panting and laughing at the same time by this point, and was trying hard to recompose himself, being able to at least sit up properly while he caught his breath.

"Recovering from your loony episode yet?" Shade asked politely.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Haelthol panted in between breaths.

"Oh yeah, I don't think y'all have formally met yet. Haelthol, this is Theloria Shadecloak. Shade, this is Innkeeper Haelthol." Wolfezth said, introducing the two to each other semi-formally.

"Pleased to meet you, Haelthol." Shade said, leaning forward and extending her right hand out, which Haelthol met and shook. "Pleased to meet you as well, Shade." he said as he did so. Once that ritual was complete they both leaned back in their chairs and Wolf said: "Now I don't have a clue how y'all are feeling, but I'm hungry as a vegetarian at the end of a year long drought in huntin' season."

Both Haelthol and Shade grinned at that, and Haelthol got up and said: "Shade, you hungry too?"

"Yeah, I'd take some food." She replied.

"OK then, but next time don't lock and barricade the door please... I couldn't put your breakfast in your room with it like that." Haelthol said as he maneuvered through the small entryway to the other side of the bar and walked into the kitchen in the back.

"I don't like people sneaking up on me." Shade said as he was walking, and Haelthol grinned before disappearing into the aforementioned kitchen.

"How ironic is that, Shade?" Wolfezth chimed in.

"Not at all ironic, I don't even know what you're talking about, Wolf."

"Of course you don't... Then what'd you do to the window?"

"I rigged it to a few bells in the room, why?"

"Just wondering since all I did was just kind of sleep on the bar. No need to be so damn insecure, the Scryers are a very nice organization and nice group of people as a whole."

"I don't know them too well, OK? And I just don't feel comfortable unless I'm totally safe."

"In your little cocoon of a room it's safe?"

"I feel like it is."

"So what if I broke down the door and moved all the junk tonight then?"

"Is that a threat or a come-on?" Shade asked seriously.

Wolfezth squirmed uncomfortably for a moment under her gaze, and said: "Well, what do you want it to be?"

"I dunno, you tell me." Shade replied easily, setting her left elbow down on the table and holding her chin on her left hand as she looked at him dead in the eyes... A habit Wolf wished right now she didn't have as he averted his eyes to the kitchen door - hoping that Haelthol would come out soon. He knew that any answer he'd give would be the wrong one and Shade'd adjust accordingly - so this was a situation where he couldn't win no matter what.

"C'mon Wolf, I thought you never were at a loss for words? Answer me." Shade said in a low voice, and Wolfezth got up uncomfortably and said: "I'ma go check what Haelthol's doing back there, Shade. I'll be back." and walked as quickly as he could manage without looking like he was running away through the gap in the bar and into the kitchen while Shade watched bemusedly with a smirk.

Wolfezth, with the last few steps before disappearing into the kitchen puffed his chest out and straightened his back - making himself look as big as possible and trying to maintain some dignity. Shade's smirk widened into a grin when she saw this, and waited patiently for Haelthol to come out with the food.

Wolf in the meantime walked into the kitchen to find Haelthol kneeling to cook hunks of beef over an open fire in the top left hand corner of the medium-sized room. The hunks of beef were attached to steel rods, so they could be eaten conveniently. The kitchen had various counters, stoves, and other appliances Wolf was not familiar with in addition to a range and of course the fire. Haelthol looked up as Wolf came in and said: "If you want the food early, too bad. I'm not having you complain five minutes from now about how Shade got her beef cooked and you didn't."

"Naw, I'll wait for it to be cooked mate. Just want a breather real fast."

"Breather from what?"

"Nothin'."

"Breather from what? You didn't just come in here to twiddle your thumbs and talk to me when I'm cooking with Shade right out there."

"Let's just say it was getting really uncomfortable there."

Haelthol looked at him, and then seemed to look behind him for a moment before tending to the cooking beef.

"She's right behind me, isn't she." Wolf didn't say that as a question, he said it as a statement.

"Nope, that's what I was kind of expecting too, which is why I looked." Haelthol replied.

Wolfezth took a quick look back and saw nothing but the empty lane of the bartender's side of the bar.

"And uncomfortable? You're a damn Black Dragon who's a million times older than I am who has seen the rise and fall of kingdoms, is the size of this inn for cryin' out loud, and always brags about how you killed a universe's worth of enemies in your lifetime...What in Azeroth can make you uncomfortable?"

"Her." Wolfezth responded, jerking his right thumb in the direction of the bar.

Haelthol considered this for a moment, not knowing whether to make fun of him or pity him before deciding not to say anything and continued to tend to the fire.

Wolfezth leaned against the wall for a few moments before Haelthol got up with the three metal rods and said: "Well, they're done... Hope you can get over your little scare enough to come out and eat; Wolf."

Wolfezth looked up at the ceiling, sighed, and said in a low voice as Haelthol walked over towards the entrance: "For all intents and purposes, I was helping you cook. Hear me?"

Haelthol nodded, not quite understanding as he went out the door and saw Shade facing it with her chin in her hand - looking bored. "Beef's done." Haelthol announced, and Wolfezth was close behind him.

"Great!" Shade said, not moving an inch and added: "So what's up with the running, Wolf?"

"I was helping Haelthol here cook the beef." Wolfezth replied, getting over his uneasiness slowly.

"I don't believe Haelthol needed it, and you just kind'a ran off..." Shade began, but Haelthol cut her off.

"Here, let's just drop it and eat." he said, tossing Shade a steel rod which she caught deftly, still staring at Wolf with her blue eyes- who was now following Haelthol out the small entryway and into the main part of the inn. When they were both out, Haelthol handed Wolf one of the steel rods and he took a huge chunk out of it in a bite, and chewed slowly... Letting the juiciness and flavor seep in before swallowing. He looked over and saw Shade doing the same, looking up and savoring the taste. He knew like himself she hadn't had good food in a good bit.

"Any good?" Haelthol asked in between bites, and to his satisfaction both Wolf and Shade nodded ascent - not wanting to waste the good taste of well-cooked beef on a proper response.

As Wolf swallowed, Haelthol asked somewhat puzzled: "What have you been eating since the last time you were here?"

"Hard rations, hard rations, and more hard rations with a bit of water thrown in there. Also the odd deer or two but those are uncooked as dragon breath doesn't seem to cook things very well." Wolfezth replied, flashing a grin before taking another large bite out of the piece of juicy beef that was the size of his fist and then some.

Haelthol took a thoughtful bite while Shade swallowed and replied herself: "Poorly cooked food for the past month or so. And Wolf you just never bother to cook it with your... Let me remind you - flaming breath. What cooks meat? Fire. What do you breathe? Fire. What are you too lazy to use? Fire."

Wolfezth swallowed after chewing a bit faster than last time to respond as Shade took another bite out of her beef on a stick: "Meh - doing it over an open fire tastes better. I'm known for many things, but being a good cook is not one of them." He said, and shoved the rest of the beef into his mouth - it barely fitting but him stubbornly making it fit as he looked quite redicules trying to chew a hunk of beef that barely fit in his mouth. Both Haelthol and Shade grinned as they watched him while Wolf concentrated on not letting any of it fall out of his mouth by accident.

After a few minutes of content silence and some shifting around, all had finished their meals and the steel rods laid on the counter, with Shade with a content smile on her face, leaning back against the bar once more, Wolf leaning against the wall beside her still savoring the taste left in his mouth and Haelthol sitting down where he sat earlier - relaxed.

"Sorry to intrude, Haelthol... But would you mind showing me how much fight you got left - just for future reference?" Wolfezth asked, turning his gaze to him.

"A duel we're talking about, correct?" Haelthol asked, somewhat surprised for a moment... And then realizing it might just be to act like a tough guy in front of Shade to make up for whatever happened before.

"Correct, 'cause I'm not gonna lie here... I might be calling upon your aid here sooner rather than later... And I don't want to make an estimate of you that's too far off from what you can actually do mate." Wolfezth replied, sighing.

"So you think I've lost a step in these few soft years?" Haelthol asked as Shade sat quietly, watching the scene unfold.

"That's what I want to find out. Last time, if you recall..." Wolfezth paused, and tapped his left shoulder - where black stitches were evident to repair a cut about three inches wide. "You managed to break the edge of your blade into my shoulder against my greatsword. Closest I have to that is my bastard sword, which I'll be using. You'll dull my blade and keep yours sharp - like always. Most mortals don't even get a blade on me let alone make a cut on me one on one in an open area."

Haelthol grinned and nodded, but replied: "So since 'most mortals' don't get to even hit you, how about if I hit you... You have to go hunt for the meat for dinner for the next three nights."

Shade chose this time to chime in: "I'll be set in that slate as well... How about I can jump in at any point starting when it starts and ending two minutes after the duel ends and if I hit you with the flat, edge, or pommel of my shortsword or dagger you gotta do what he said. And if we don't, we gotta cook for you for the next three days." Haelthol nodded to this, grinning at the prospect of friendly competition.

Wolfezth grinned at the challanges, and said: "I'll take you up on that offer, Haelthol. And Shade - you have to hit me three times for it to count. Three separate times, and with the blade not within a second or two of each other and the pommel can be as fast as you like... Because you won't hit me with it." with a wink to Shade - to which she smirked at; confidence radiating from her blue eyes.

Wolf was the first to move, not having to get up as he walked towards the door with a confident smile on his face as Shade and Haelthol got up, looked at each other, nodded, and followed him, and as Haelthol went outside he got a longsword from a display on the wall of the inn - the one he used years ago in the orc wars. As Wolf got outside, there was an immediate space outside that was at least twenty square meters of perfect empty space. He walked out about fifteen feet out, turned around, and drew his bastard sword with a smirk. Haelthol stood directly in front of the inn door, and Wolf held out his bastard sword - flat facing Haelthol as he muttered a few words and nodded to Wolf. Wolf test cut his left arm with a light swing, and as it bounced off as a club would he nodded and raised it into a ready stance. Haelthol raised his longsword in a ready stance as well, ready for a fast and furious attack. "Would you like to double our wager?" Haelthol asked with a confident grin, and Wolfezth shrugged. "Fine, six days of free food for the winner."

Wolfezth then charged straight towards Haelthol with a supernatural speed that he wasn't quite used to yet, and he readied his blade to strike at him, getting that so important slash at him - but a step out of his range Wolf jumped sideways and as he landed next to Haelthol in the span of a split second struck at Haelthol's side with the blade and as he moved his body to strike at Wolf with a swing slash Wolf used his full speed to meet Haelthol's blade head on mid-swing... And Wolf's full dragon strength brought to bear of course trumped blood elf strength and the blade was knocked out of Haelthol's hands rather quickly. Then Wolf stepped back a step and pushed the tip of his bastard sword on Haelthol's neck just enough for him to feel it and said with a grin of victory: "Done." Because in the span of less than five seconds he had beaten Haelthol in a duel and would be winning free food for nearly a week if Shade didn't hit him three times between then and two minutes from then. Shade actually clapped in a congratulatory manner at Wolfezth and walked towards him as Wolf sheathed his bastard sword and Haelthol rubbed his side with a frown on his face. Shade said with a wide grin on her face: "Man, that reminded me a lot of our old Farstriders days."

Wolfezth replied with a grin just as wide but a little warily: "Oh, really?"

Shade nodded enthusiastically and said: "Yeah, definitely! Had some good times out there, and I realized I forgot to thank you for that bout with Sylvanus."

Wolfezth nodded slowly as Shade continued to walk towards him, and didn't stop. She put her left hand on the back of his head and said in a very low voice: "Consider this a thank you." as she kissed Wolf abruptly, not moving her right arm as she was doing so. Wolfezth returned her embrace, seeing as though it would a total waste NOT to return the favor to her as he desired her so. Shade kissed Wolfezth as passionately as she could - which wasn't that hard for her nor Wolf, and with her right hand she felt for her short sword and drew it slowly as Wolfezth was completely unaware - caught up in the moment and the fact for that for at least the moment... She was his. She held it backwards so the pummel was facing towards Wolfezth and swiftly jammed him three times in the stomach with it and broke away from his embrace, took a step back, and said quite calmly as she sheathed her shortsword: "That's six days of deer for us then, huh Wolf?"

Wolfezth looked at her, confused for a moment as he took it all in - and sighed when he realized what had just happened. Haelthol just looked at them both in bewilderment, not saying a word. Wolf replied to Shade: "Aye, that's six days of deer or other wildlife for y'all. Though Shade, we should really do that more often."

"Don't count on it, Wolf." Shade replied with a wink as she turned around and walked to Haelthol to make sure he was all right. Wolfezth noticed at some point when Shade was talking his jaw dropped and he had drool on his jaw and quickly wiped it off with his left hand as he stared hungrily at Shade as she checked to see if Haelthol needed to see a medic.

"You all right, Haelthol?" Shade asked him, seemingly unfazed by what had just happened.

"Yeah, but did you just...?"

"Yeah, I just kissed Wolf - why, are you surprised or something? He kisses like a dog though, hence the name Wolf fits him pretty damn well. And don't even go traditional elf on me either because if I hear one word about how that's wrong or anything I'll use the other end of the shortsword on you faster than you can apologize."

"Understood, Shade. A little bruise in the side but it'll heal up without any help - and thanks for helping me get free food for a week or so, girl"

"No problem," Shade paused, and looked back at Wolf - who was now leaning against the inn walls and looking at the bright blue sky overhead as the sun rised in its throne at the top of it - and quickly looked back to Haelthol. "No problem at all." Haelthol nodded and said loud enough for Wolf to hear as well: "Well, we might as well go back inside the inn if we have nothing better to do than relax and wait for nightfall where Wolf'll go grab us some food, huh?" Shade and Wolf both nodded and the trio went back inside the inn to enjoy the rest of a very rare day where they could just relax, talk, and socialize for a change instead of fight for their lives or having to guard this or watch that... Just simple rest and relaxation for a change, and they were going to take advantage of it while it lasted.


End file.
